WASHINGTON D.C. - Four Seasons hotel employee Melinda Cook prepares a Chicago style hot dog from a hot dog cart set up for a special inauguration Sunday brunch. / By Barbara DeLollis

by Barbara DeLollis, USA TODAY

by Barbara DeLollis, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - Who'd expect to see a hot dog cart inside the Four Seasons, the exclusive hotel where some inauguration revelers have been ordering $2,000 bottles of wine?

Well, on Sunday, the hotel rolled out the real thing - an authentic hot dog pushcart - for its special inauguration weekend brunch.

In honor of a popular snack from President Obama's adopted hometown, Four Seasons diners could grab a Chicago hot dog on a poppy seed bun, complete with mustard, neon-green Chicago relish, spicy peppers and fresh tomato slices. A life-size cardboard Obama stood guard nearby, and men, women and children posed next to it for photos.

"I'm from Chicago," says the hotel's executive chef, Douglas Anderson. "I had to do the Chicago hot dog stand."

And people ate it up, as expected, he says.

While it may have been Anderson's quirky nod to the president, the simple hot dog cart also can be viewed as a sign of the times.

As news about the so-called fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling dominate headlines, the mood during this year's inauguration is far more subdued than it was in 2009, according to interviews with veteran hoteliers, visitors and best-selling author and Four Seasons guest Deepak Chopra.

Visitors are steering away from making showy displays.

Over the past few days, Javier Loureiro, head concierge at the Four Seasons who began working here in 1979, says he's noticed a lack of large jewels on women decked out for inaugural balls. (Which inauguration had the most bling? Hands down, he says, it was President Reagan's first.)

Another sign: Few hotels in the city have sold out for the full inauguration weekend, or if they did sell out, it was for fewer nights than in 2009.

Washington's convention officials expect about 800,000 people to arrive for inaugural festivities, vs. about 1.6 million four years ago.

Guests: 'More careful approach'

"The last time was epic due to the historical nature of it," says Jon Chocklett, sales and marketing director at the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel, where people are paying $995 a night for the least expensive rooms and at least $2,000 a night for suites.

"The theme of America now is people being a little more cautious, and we're certainly seeing a more careful approach by our guests," he says.

The tapered enthusiasm about spending money - and showing it off isn't limited to Washington's most expensive luxury hotels.

Less expensive hotels have been seeing similar trends. Average stays are shorter, too, than four years ago.

The average guest stay in 2005 at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel was two nights, and in 2009, it doubled to four nights, says Jack Lindemuth, the hotel's revenue manager. This year, it should be around three, he says.

"It's still great, but it's just not that huge compared to the historical moment of 2009," Lindemuth says. "If you compare it to the Bush re-election, it's still going to be better than 2005."

Outside of inauguration weekend, the Liaison advertises rates on its website that start at $189, with a $50 in-room dining credit for Art Smith's Art and Soul restaurant.

For inauguration, the Liaison - with trendy rooms and a location close to the steps of Capitol Hill - initially fetched rates of $899 with a four-night, prepaid minimum when it began selling rooms last March. By Friday, however, it was allowing guests to book one night. The hotel's "Inaugural Chef's Ball" charity event held on Saturday night, with prominent chefs Smith, Todd Gray and Michael Isabella, however, sold out just as it did four years ago.

Tourists seek value

When Aric Ackerman of Hermosa Beach, Calif., received tickets to the inauguration day festivities only last week, he was nervous that planning a last-minute trip might cost too much.

But he took a chance on making it work for his family of four, including kids ages 10 and 13.

"It's an opportunity of a lifetime to take my wife and my children," he says. "How can we miss seeing the inauguration in person?"

They wanted to extend their stay to do some sightseeing without breaking the bank, he says.

So after finding decently priced airline tickets, he spent a good deal of time researching lodging options. They saw rates that seemed too high for the quality.

Ultimately, they decided to stay in suburban Maryland's National Harbor hotel, shop and restaurant complex. He says they're paying about $300 a night for rooms at the Aloft hotel. They can take a free shuttle to the Metro, and in roughly 30 minutes, they're downtown.

"I looked at a few things online and saw elevated rates of $500 and $600 - even the basic ones were so beyond reasonable, so I was willing to get out of the city," he says. "My kids love it here."

Ernest Hayward of Laguna Niguel, Calif., also had strong feelings about taking his 15-year-old son Vincent to the inauguration.

But, he too didn't want to spend a fortune.

So on Monday morning before leaving for the National Mall, the father and son splurged on breakfast at Four Seasons' pricey dining room but they didn't sleep there.

Hayward says he'd booked a room at the nearby Avenue Suites hotel, a recently redone all-suites hotel, for about $300 a night on Expedia.com.

Still expensive

Of course, there are plenty of people here who aren't looking for a bargain.

At D.C.'s exclusive hotels, a well-to-do crowd filled the available rooms at much higher price tags.

The average rate that guests paid at the Four Seasons on Saturday night spiked to $1,900, hotel manager Yvette Thomas-Henry told staff Sunday at the hotel's daily morning meeting that's attended by all the department heads.

That means the stakes are extra high to "create the magic" for guests, she told them.

At least one person paid $15,000 per night for a series of connecting rooms, while others paid thousands for top suites. Every suite was sold out, with one royal family member taking 11 rooms and suites for entourage members.

And the hotel's restaurants and room service department have been buzzing, too.

With temperatures on the colder side, guests have been reluctant to leave the hotel to dine elsewhere, creating Super Bowl-style demand for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Even the Sunday brunch was packed, with 395 people paying $100 per person for the hot-dog cart as well as oysters, crab claws, smoked salmon, lamb chops, Asian noodles, artisan cheeses and other delicacies.

And for the two nights of Friday and Saturday alone, Mina's restaurant - Bourbon Steak - sold an unusually high $30,000 worth of wine. That included a few orders of $2,000 bottles, she says.

Regardless of whether money was no object - or every dollar counted - Washington's 2013 visitors had plenty of options for Obama's second inauguration. And even with the decreased numbers it remains the biggest day for DC hotels.